MELISSA RICKER, NMT

Massage Therapist & Certified Yoga Instructor

Melissa Ricker is a certified bodyworker, yoga instructor, and lecturer on Integrative health. A graduate of the Western Institute of Neuromuscular Therapy.

Ricker’s path toward becoming a healer and educator began in 2000 when she was diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis. Hardly able to move and plagued by chronic pain, her last hope was a strategic combination of yoga and massage. She has since cured her auto immune disorder through Integrative medicine.

In 2006 Ricker became a certified yoga instructor with the goal of helping others find health – both physically and emotionally. She then decided to compliment her knowledge of yoga with a bodywork certification in 2007. Educated in Sports massage, Pre/Peri natal massage, Lymphatic Drainage and Oncology massage, Ricker has chosen to focus on medical modalities complimenting the Integrative approach to healing.

Melissas work with the Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine through UCI offered her the opportunity to lecture the medical community about the benefits of massage. Educating doctors, nurses, and other practitioners about the role of massage in a clinical application. Patients usually go to their primary care physician with various aches and pains. Teaching the medical community about how massage can help with piriformis syndrome, thoracic outlet syndrome (T.O.S), frozen shoulder, temporal mandibular joint dysfunction (TMJD), and many other musculoskeletal issues furthers the integrative approach to healing the body.

“Your body does exactly what you tell it to do” says Melissa. Change the message, change the outcome.